History
Beginnings
In the early 20th century, several Italian immigrant and Italian-American street gangs in South Philadelphia formed what eventually became the Philadelphia crime family. Salvatore Sabella was the first leader of the group that would later bear his name. They busied themselves with bootlegging, extortion, loansharking, and illegal gambling, and it was during the Prohibition era that Sabella and his crew were recognized as members of the wider Sicilian crime syndicate of New York City and Chicago. Sabella retired in late 1931.
First Philadelphia Mafia War
After Sabella's retirement, two of his top lieutenants, John Avena and Giuseppe Dovi, began a five-year war for control of the family. Avena was murdered by members of his own faction on August 17, 1936, and Joseph "Joe Bruno" Dovi became boss of the Philadelphia family.
Dovi had good connections with the Chicago Outfit and the Five Families of New York City, and he expanded operations outside of South Philadelphia to the Greater Philadelphia area, including Atlantic City, New Jersey and other parts of South Jersey. Narcotics, illegal gambling, loansharking, and extortion activities provided the family's income, and connections to the Genovese and Gambino crime families grew throughout the 1930s and early 1940s.
On October 22, 1946, Dovi died of natural causes at a New York City hospital, and Giuseppe "Joseph" Ida was appointed by the Commission to run the Philadelphia family and its rackets.
Vito Genovese
Joe Ida ran the family throughout the 1940s and early 1950s. Ida and the Philadelphia organization were heavily influenced by the bosses of the Five Families, especially the Genovese family, which sought to control the Philadelphia family. Vito Genovese, an underboss at the time, assumed control of what would become the Genovese family in 1957 after the shooting of former boss Frank Costello, who subsequently retired due to illness.
As the Philadelphia family gained more power in Atlantic City and South Jersey, it was viewed merely as a Genovese faction due to the Genoveses' substantial amount of influence over the Philadelphia family at the time. After a 1956 Commission meeting, however, the crime families of Philadelphia and Detroit, headed by Ida and Giuseppe "Joseph" Zerilli respectively, were added to the Commission, establishing the Philadelphia family as its own organization independent of control by New York crime families.
Ida and his underboss Dominick Olivetto were present during the Apalachin meeting in 1957 with roughly 100 other top mobsters. The meeting was raided by U.S. law enforcement, and over 60 mafiosi were arrested and indicted for association with known organized crime members. Ida was named in the indictment and fled to Sicily not long after the meeting, leaving Antonio "Mr. Migs" Pollina as acting boss in Ida's absence.
Angelo Bruno
After Ida retired in 1959 and Pollina was demoted, Angelo Bruno was appointed by the Commission to run the Philadelphia family. Bruno, the first boss of Philadelphia with an influential seat on the Commission, was born in Sicily and was a close ally of Carlo Gambino, solidifying his position as leader of the Philadelphia Mafia. Bruno used his contacts and his own business mind to maintain respect and power among other Mafia bosses in the country. He expanded the family's profit and operations in Atlantic City, which, due in part to its location within the Philadelphia metro area, had naturally become known as the Philadelphia family's turf. Bruno himself avoided the intense media and law enforcement scrutiny and kept violence down. He spent almost three years in prison for refusing to testify at a 1970 hearing on organized crime in the state of New Jersey. After his release, he spent some time in Italy before returning to the United States in 1977.
Bruno had a reputation for seeking peaceful solutions to family issues instead of violence. He was sometimes referred to as the "Gentle Don" due to his apparent reluctance to resort to violence or murder if other means of conflict resolution among family members were available, though he had no strong aversion to violence outside of the family. While he preferred negotiation, intimidation, and persuasion or coercion, he generally avoided, if possible, certain violent tactics for pragmatic reasons; mostly, he believed that excessive violence would bring police attention, disrupt cohesion among his ranks, and jeopardize his illegal businesses and ties with ostensibly legitimate businesses and politicians. Bruno oversaw the family's gambling syndicate and preferred more traditional operations such as labor racketeering and union infiltration, extortion and protection rackets, loan sharking, numbers games, and other illegal gambling operations, including infiltrating legitimate businesses. Outside of most family issues, however, violence was still the modus operandi of the Philly Mafia; by the late 1960s, the Philadelphia family used violence and intimidation to control various unions in the food and service industry, such as Local 54 of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union. The crime family plundered the local's health and welfare funds and used its control to extort money from bars and restaurants. Mafia members owned or had a controlling interest in many restaurants, bars, and social clubs throughout the Philadelphia/South Jersey area. During the early 1960s, the Philadelphia family was officially recognized as the Bruno family.
Bruno focused mostly on low-risk crimes and gave his subordinates autonomy as long as he received a share of the profits. He prohibited any of his men from getting involved in narcotics trafficking, fearing the long prison sentences that drug trafficking charges could bring. Many of his men disagreed with this decision, seeing the large profits that could be made. Some mobsters, like Philip "the Chicken Man" Testa, Antonio "Tony Bananas" Caponigro, Harry "the Hunchback" Riccobene, and Raymond "Long John" Martorano, ran drug trafficking operations clandestinely without Bruno's knowledge. His men were further angered because Bruno accepted money from Giovanni "John" Gambino in order to allow the Gambino family to sell heroin on Philadelphia family turf in South Jersey.
For decades, the Mafia controlled criminal rackets in Philadelphia's African-American neighborhoods, financing Black numbers operations and supplying heroin to Black drug dealers. In 1970, Samuel "Beyah" Christian and other African-American organized crime figures formed the Black Mafia to take control of illegal activities in the Black neighborhoods of Philadelphia from the Italian Mafia, a venture which was partially successful. After the Black Mafia began extorting Philadelphia family operatives in African-American areas, Bruno eventually acquiesced control of some gambling rackets which had historically been dominated by Italian-American mobsters. As per the agreement, Black gangsters were required to pay a "street tax" to the Bruno family in order to engage in the rackets. The Black Mafia became defunct as a result of a string of convictions and internal killings during the mid-1970s.
Bruno also faced pressure from New York's Five Families to let them have a cut of the business in Atlantic City, a Philadelphia Mafia-controlled city that was at the time transitioning from a city in decline to a gambling mecca. Following its early 20th-century heyday as a respected resort town, Atlantic City had been suffering from a sharp decline in the decades prior to the 1970s. With the introduction of legalized casino gambling in 1977, Atlantic City once again became particularly desired turf for organized crime. However, Atlantic City had long been reckoned as a fief of the Philadelphia family. Under longstanding Mafia rules, the Five Families could only come into Atlantic City with the Philadelphia family's permission—something Bruno was unwilling to give.
On October 15, 1976, Carlo Gambino died of a heart attack. With Gambino gone, Bruno lost his most important ally in the underworld. Many of Bruno's subordinates felt that they were missing out on money because of Bruno's old-fashioned and content ways. His consigliere, Tony Caponigro, who hoped to expand the family's drug operations and was heavily involved in the drug trade largely unbeknownst to and against the wishes of Bruno, approached Genovese family boss Frank "Funzi" Tieri in order to seek the Commission's permission to kill Bruno and take over the crime family. Tieri, sensing an opportunity to take Caponigro's North Jersey gambling operation and set up operations in Atlantic City, lied to Caponigro and told him he had the Commission's support. On March 21, 1980, Bruno was shotgunned in the back of the head while in his car in South Philadelphia by a gunman working for Caponigro. That April, Caponigro visited New York City under the assumption that he was going to be confirmed as boss. Instead, he was tortured and murdered for killing a Commission member without permission. Caponigro's co-conspirators Frank Sindone, Alfred Salerno, and John Simone were also murdered for killing a mob boss without the permission of the Commission.
Second Philadelphia Mafia War (1980–1984)
Beginning with Bruno's murder in 1980 and the subsequent murder of Caponigro and his co-conspirators, a violent struggle for power erupted within the Philadelphia Mafia. Bruno's successor, his former underboss Philip Testa, lasted just under a year as the boss of the family before he was killed by a nail bomb under his front porch on March 15, 1981. Testa's murder was orchestrated by Frank "Chickie" Narducci in yet another attempt to take control of the family. Peter Casella and Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo, Testa's underboss and consigliere respectively, were both vying to take over the family. Violence between the two factions ensued. Scarfo was close with Genovese family consigliere Louis "Bobby" Manna and approached the Genovese hierarchy with his suspicions that Narducci and Casella orchestrated Testa's murder. The Genovese family set up a meeting with Scarfo and Casella, where Casella confessed that Narducci killed Testa so that they could take over the family. Narducci was killed and Casella was banished from the mob and fled to Florida, leaving Scarfo the major candidate for boss of the family. However, the war continued in spite of, or because of, Scarfo's apparent nomination to boss.
Nicodemo Scarfo was a powerful Bruno family mobster who operated mostly in Atlantic City prior to his accession to boss. Atlantic City witnessed an economic boom after enacting measures allowing casino gambling in the late 1970s. Scarfo was able to expand his power base by infiltrating the expanding construction and service industries in Atlantic City. Despite Atlantic City being turf of the Philadelphia Mafia, Scarfo let the Commission and New York crime families operate in Atlantic City under his discretion in return for their support for him as boss. Scarfo named Salvatore "Chuckie" Merlino as his underboss and Frank Monte as his consigliere. Scarfo demoted Bruno's mob captains and replaced them with "Crazy Phil" Leonetti, Lawrence "Yogi" Merlino and Joseph "Chickie" Ciancaglini Sr., leading to further Mafia warring from disgruntled soldiers who were formerly well-situated under Bruno and Testa's reign but passed over by Scarfo, as well as from Philly Mafia soldiers in South Jersey who were angry that Scarfo was allowing New York mobsters to operate in Atlantic City. Scarfo eventually emerged triumphant despite considerable violent opposition and multiple murders.
The last person to stand in Scarfo's way was the well-respected, long-time Philadelphia crime family mobster and "made man", Harry Riccobene. Believing that Scarfo was an unfit and greedy boss, Riccobene refused to pay his tribute to Scarfo. While Angelo Bruno apparently never asked Riccobene for a regular or unreasonable share of his illicit profits, Scarfo demanded a typical "kick up" tribute, which angered Riccobene, as he did not view Scarfo as a legitimate or appropriate successor to the position of boss. With Scarfo off the street serving a brief prison term in Texas, the "Riccobene War" ensued between 1982 and 1984 as part of the larger Second Philadelphia Mafia War in the 1980s. The Scarfo faction was able to kill three of Riccobene's men. The Riccobene faction was able to kill Scarfo's consigliere Frank Monte, while Riccobene himself survived two attempts on his life. In 1984, the two gunmen in the Monte murder, along with Riccobene's brother, were arrested and agreed to cooperate with authorities. They testified at trial that Riccobene ordered Monte's murder. Riccobene was convicted and sentenced to life in prison, ending the war.
"Little Nicky" Scarfo's reign (1981–1990)
When Nicky Scarfo became boss, he wanted to unify organized crime in the area and dreamed of running a smooth criminal empire. He soon imposed a "street tax" on all criminal rackets in Philadelphia and South Jersey. Although financially extorting criminals is a common Mafia racket, it was a somewhat alien practice in Philadelphia. Enforced by soldiers and associates of the family, the tax was paid by criminals working independently from the Mafia, including drug dealers, bookmakers, loan sharks, pimps, and number runners operating in territory that Scarfo deemed his own, were forced to pay his street tax weekly. Those who refused to pay the tax were often murdered. Loan shark, drug dealer and pawn shop owner John Calabrese was killed by Joseph Ciancaglini Sr., Tommy DelGiorno, Frank Iannarella and Pasquale "Pat the Cat" Spirito. Frankie "Flowers" D'Alfonso was brutally beaten by Salvatore Testa and Joey Pungitore for refusing to pay the street tax. He was later murdered in 1985.
The crime family's biggest racket was the control of labor unions. During Bruno's and Scarfo's reigns, the Philadelphia Mafia maintained some degree of influence over Roofers Union Local 30, Iron Workers Union Local 405, Laborers Union Local 332 and Teamsters Union Locals 107, 158, 331 and 837. The crime family used this influence to extort businesses, steal from the union treasuries and receive paychecks and benefits for little to no work.
Scarfo also got the crime family heavily involved in methamphetamine trafficking, which was the drug of choice in the Philadelphia/South Jersey area. At first, the family extorted money from local meth dealers. When Greek-American gangster Chelsais "Steve" Bouras, boss of the Philadelphia Greek Mob, began intruding on the methamphetamine trade in Philadelphia and refused to pay Scarfo's street tax, Scarfo had him killed. Although the Greek mob had long been a close ally and partner of the Philadelphia Mafia, and despite the fact that some Philadelphia Italian crime family members were themselves heavily involved in Bouras's methamphetamine trafficking ring, the hot-headed and ruthless Scarfo decided to send a message to all local crime organizations about respecting the street tax and the primacy of the Philadelphia crime family by having Bouras killed in public. Bouras was eating dinner with his girlfriend, friends, and Scarfo soldier Raymond Martorano when a hit team ambushed and killed Bouras along with his girlfriend.
The Philadelphia family then started controlling the meth trade in the area by supplying illicit P2P (the key meth ingredient) to meth manufacturers. By controlling the supply of P2P, the Philadelphia mob was generally able to control the methamphetamine trade in the Philadelphia/South New Jersey area. Some criminals borrowed money from Mafia members to finance meth operations (and benefited from working with the Mafia instead of being extorted by them). The crime family also had some involvement in cocaine and marijuana trafficking.
Scarfo became notorious for his ruthless, paranoid nature. Scarfo demanded complete allegiance to him and ordered people murdered over signs of disrespect, insubordination or resistance. Described by a former crime family member:
[i]f you were in good graces with him, he loves you and you love him. You understand? But you never knew from one day to the next. He'd turn on anybody, and he drew no lines when it came to killing. Most Mob bosses were not like him. The Mob is basically run the same in every city, but our "family" was unusual in that it was a very paranoid family because we all feared each other and feared Scarfo the most. He held grudges. If you didn't say hello to him 20 years ago, he never forgot. He used to say, "I'm like the turtle. I get there." You know, we were the best of friends. He believed in me, and I believed in him. But he was very, very paranoid. He betrayed himself. His own nephew turned.
— Nicholas "the Crow" Caramandi
Soon after his promotion to boss, the number of organized crime-related murders escalated in the 1980s. Philadelphia mobster-turned-government witness Nicholas "Nicky the Crow" Caramandi described Scarfo's violent nature in a 2001 interview:
Scarfo was a cowboy. He didn't want a guy taken in a house and shot easily in the back of the head. He wanted it outside, in broad daylight, with a million people around. Restaurants, funeral homes, anywhere. Then it gets written up in the papers, and it puts fear in people. He loved that cowboy stuff.
Scarfo had inducted member Pat Spirito murdered in 1983. During the Riccobene War, Spirito switched sides and aligned himself with Scarfo, but was killed for turning down a murder contract on Riccobene's brother. But Scarfo's downfall began on September 14, 1984, when Scarfo loyalist Salvatore "Salvie" Testa was murdered. Despite Testa serving faithfully under Scarfo and committing several murders on his behalf, Scarfo granted his underboss Salvatore Merlino permission to kill Testa for breaking off his engagement with Merlino's daughter. After this, other members and crime families saw Scarfo as untrustworthy and paranoid. He also started to earn a negative reputation within his organization, which led to members turning informant in the late 1980s. After Merlino's drinking problem got out of hand, Scarfo demoted him to soldier and promoted his nephew Phil Leonetti as his new underboss.
In November 1988, Scarfo and 16 of his men were convicted of racketeering, ten murders, five attempted murders, extortion, gambling and narcotics trafficking. Along with Scarfo, underboss Philip Leonetti, three of the family's four capos, or captains, Joseph Ciancaglini, Francis Iannarella Jr. and Santo Idone, and soldiers such as Albert Pontani, Salvatore Merlino and Charles Iannece were arrested. The prosecutions were strengthened by Mafia members Tommy DelGiorno and Nicky Caramandi agreeing to cooperate with law enforcement and testify at trial for the government in order to escape long prison terms and Scarfo's ruthless regime. Fifteen of the defendants received prison sentences ranging from 30 to 55 years, including Scarfo.
Leonetti was the next defector who agreed to cooperate with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) after being sentenced to 45 years in prison. Many more mobsters would later be sentenced to long prison terms for crimes such as racketeering, narcotics trafficking and murder. This caused the number of Mafia members in the family to dwindle in the 1990s, with fewer new guys available to replace all those being convicted of serious crimes. By 1990, 21 members were incarcerated, 11 were under indictment, and six turned government witnesses. The Pennsylvania Crime Commission reported that there were only 24 members who were free and not facing criminal charges.
John Stanfa and the Third Philadelphia Mafia War (1990–1996)
With many of Scarfo's loyalists serving lengthy prison terms, it became clear that Scarfo would not be able to maintain control of the crime family from prison much longer. To avoid a total power vacuum in the Philadelphia Mafia, Giovanni "John" Stanfa, a Sicilian-born mobster with the support and endorsement of the influential Gambino and Genovese families in New York, was named boss of the Philadelphia family in 1990. Word was sent to the imprisoned Scarfo in October 1990, with Scarfo being informed that he was no longer boss and that Stanfa had been installed as boss, though Stanfa wasn't officially installed as boss until 1991. The New York Mafia's intrusion in Philadelphia Mafia affairs was not well received by many of the younger Philadelphia-born mobsters in the crime family, including Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino, the son of former underboss Salvatore Merlino, who saw Stanfa as an outsider who had not worked his way up in the organization due to being imprisoned during the entire Scarfo era.
While serving prison time together in 1990, Merlino met Ralph Natale. According to Natale, he and Merlino began plotting to take over the Philadelphia family during this period. Natale named Michael Ciancaglini, Steven Mazzone, George Borgesi, Gaetano "Tommy Horsehead" Scafidi and Martin "Marty" Angelina as Merlino's key associates and co-conspirators in the plan. Stanfa was aware of the divide in his family and tried to find a peaceful solution. He named Michael's older brother Joseph Jr. as his new underboss. Stanfa hoped that this would appease the Merlino faction and bring them under his banner. However, tensions escalated, and in 1991 another war for control of the Philadelphia family was underway. Merlino loyalists shot and incapacitated Joseph Ciancaglini Jr., while Stanfa's faction killed Michael Ciancaglini. They continued attacking each other for months, including a freeway ambush Stanfa survived, and several failed attempts on Merlino's life. The Stanfa faction was still solidifying its control of the crime family and recruited many outside hitmen for the war.
On March 17, 1994, Stanfa and 23 of his men were arrested on racketeering-related charges. This was the second major indictment on the crime family in seven years. The federal case was the largest prosecution of an organized crime group in Philadelphia history. A key piece of evidence was two years of recorded conversations Stanfa would have with mobsters in his attorney's office and doctor's office. Believing attorney–client privilege and doctor-patient confidentiality would protect him, Stanfa openly talked about important Mafia business with his men. However, the FBI was able to get a warrant to place covert listening devices in both offices once they figured out they were being used to aid criminal conspiracies. Stanfa, in an unusual tactic, recruited several men who were of only partial Italian heritage, including the Veasey brothers. According to the former executive director of the Pennsylvania Crime Commission, Frederick T. Martens, "Stanfa brought in people, like the Veasey brothers, who had no background in the mob but who were willing to break legs and pull a trigger". John Veasey, who pleaded guilty to charges of racketeering and murder, entered the witness protection program in 1994. William Veasey, John Veasey's brother, was murdered on October 5, 1995, the same day he was scheduled to testify against Stanfa at trial.
Stanfa was convicted in 1995, and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1996. With most of Stanfa's supporters also arrested and convicted, Merlino was released from prison in November 1994 and named Natale, who had also been released from prison on parole, as the new boss. Merlino positioned himself as Natale's underboss. During Natale's reign, Merlino was the real power in the family, allowing Natale to become boss to direct law enforcement attention away from himself.
Natale's "front boss" reign, Merlino's ascension, and continuing Mafia violence
Merlino gained notoriety as a flamboyant, celebrity gangster who often went out partying with a large entourage. The press dubbed him the "John Gotti of Passyunk Avenue" due to his candid demeanor in front of news cameras; Passyunk Avenue is a prominent street in South Philadelphia. He also invited the press when he held Christmas parties for the homeless and gave away turkeys at Thanksgiving in housing projects.
The arrogance and aggressiveness of Merlino's young faction turned off a lot of criminals from working with the crime family. Merlino would often make big bets with bookies and refuse to pay when he lost. This practice, known as "guzzling", was used on both independent and mob-run bookies. During this time, Merlino and Natale oversaw the crime family's gambling, loan sharking, extortion and stolen goods rackets.
In 1995, Louis Turra, leader of a Philadelphia drug gang, the 10th & Oregon Crew, was severely beaten by Merlino's men, allegedly for failing to pay a Mafia street tax on the gang's illegal earnings. Angered by the beating, Turra sought vengeance. His father Anthony hosted a meeting at his house during which Anthony, Louis and his gang discussed killing Merlino. In January 1998, Louis Turra apparently hanged himself in a New York City jail while awaiting trial. In March 1998, Anthony Turra, on trial on charges of plotting to kill Merlino, was shot dead outside his home by a gunman in a black ski mask. He was shot twice as he left for the federal courthouse, where a jury was deliberating in the racketeering and drug case against him and four other men. "We consider this an organized crime assassination, a mob hit," Police Inspector Jerrold Kane said. Three years later, Merlino was put on trial for helping orchestrate the murder, but was acquitted.
By the late 1990s, Merlino dodged more than two dozen attempts on his life. Merlino was friends with Steve "Gorilla" Mondevergine, president of the Philadelphia chapter of the Pagan's Motorcycle Club. Merlino sometimes used the Pagans to help settle underworld disputes. The alliance between the Philadelphia Mafia and the Pagans prevented the Pagans' rivals, the Hells Angels, from expanding into Pagan territory in southeast Pennsylvania and New Jersey. During the 1990s, Merlino was also aligned with members of the Junior Black Mafia.
In June 1998, Natale was jailed for a parole violation; Merlino subsequently took control of the family and cut off support to the imprisoned boss. Angered by this, Natale offered to secretly record conversations with Merlino, but it was not until September 1999, when he was indicted for financing drug deals, that he formally struck a deal to cooperate. In doing so, Natale became the first sitting boss in the history of the American Mafia to become government informant.
Between 1999 and 2001, Merlino, along with his underboss Stephen Mazzone, his consigliere George Borgesi, Martin Angelina, John Ciancaglini and others were arrested and put on trial for racketeering, illegal gambling, loan sharking, extortion, murder and attempted murder. Natale testified against Merlino during his 2001 racketeering trial, but was unable to secure a conviction for the murders he claimed Merlino committed. On December 3, 2001, Merlino was however convicted of racketeering charges and given a 14-year prison sentence. Natale had admitted to committing eight murders and four attempted murders. In 2005, Natale was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment for drug dealing, racketeering and bribery. He was released in May 2011, and placed in witness protection.
The rise of Ligambi
In 1997, Joseph Ligambi was released from prison after he successfully appealed his murder conviction and was acquitted at retrial. After ten years in prison, Ligambi returned to a much different Mafia family that saw two violent regime changes and the family under the control of a group of young mobsters. Ligambi, who is Borgesi's uncle, was a Scarfo era soldier when he was imprisoned in 1987 and was also mentored by Merlino's father, Salvatore. After the arrest of Merlino, Borgesi and several others in 1999, Ligambi was chosen to take over as acting boss of the family. In 2001, Merlino was sentenced to 14 years in prison. After Ligambi took over, he remained in the shadows, rarely being mentioned in the media, while taking a much less "trigger-happy" approach to running the family.
Ligambi stabilized the crime family when he took over, maintained membership and restored relations with the New York families. His inner circle included longtime Philadelphia mobsters Joseph "Mousie" Massimino, Gaeton Lucibello, and Anthony Staino.
Ligambi was left to deal with the damage Merlino had done to the crime family's relationship with illegal bookmakers, who refused to do business with the Philadelphia Mafia because Merlino use to make huge bets, then never paid when he lost.
Operation Slapshot, the code name for an investigation into an illegal gambling ring, was made public in February 2006. National Hockey League (NHL) player Wayne Gretzky, his wife Janet, and Rick Tocchet, who was then an assistant coach for the Phoenix Coyotes NHL team, were among those investigated, along with other players, coaches, and team staff members. Press reports said the ring had ties to the Bruno-Scarfo crime family. Three people, including a former New Jersey state trooper, pled guilty to charges in the case.
By the mid-2000s, the family consisted of approximately 50 members, half of whom were incarcerated, in addition to almost 100 associates. During Ligambi's tenure, around a dozen "made men" were released from prison, filling the ranks. Many of these men had been young players who fell victim to the family's unstable history and are now middle-aged. He named Anthony Staino, his closest and most loyal associate, as his underboss. Under Ligambi's direction, the family was able to muscle in on several video poker gambling machine businesses in the Philadelphia area. In 2007, 23 people, including four members of the Philadelphia family, were charged with running an illegal sports betting operation out of a poker room at the Borgata Casino in Atlantic City. The illegal operation was run by the Philadelphia Mafia, who received much of the profits. The operation was accused of taking in $60 million in bets in a 20-month period. Most of those involved pleaded guilty and received sentences ranging from probation to five years.
Merlino was released from prison on March 15, 2011, and served out his three-year parole in Florida. In May 2011, Ligambi and 14 other members and associates of the crime family were indicted by the FBI on racketeering charges related to illegal gambling operations, video poker gambling machines and loan sharking. Seven of those indicted pleaded guilty to lesser charges. One became a government witness and seven went to trial in October 2012. In January 2014, two juries were hung on the racketeering charges, and Ligambi and Borgesi were acquitted and released.
Current status
Following Merlino's release from prison in 2011, the FBI and organized crime reporters believed he continued to run the Philadelphia-South Jersey Mafia. Merlino disputed this, claiming he retired from a life of crime. As of 2015, Merlino divided his time between south Florida and Philadelphia.
While the Philadelphia family's criminal operations have greatly reduced over the years, experts believe they have been able to quietly maintain power and stability, and the crime family remains one of the most active and powerful Italian-American Mafia families. In 2016, it was reported that some members were involved in Philadelphia's booming construction and home rehab industry. In January 2018, Merlino went on trial for racketeering, fraud and illegal gambling charges. After a trial ended in a hung jury, Merlino pleaded guilty to one illegal gambling charge and was sentenced to two years in prison.
In April 2018, four soldiers and associates in New Jersey were arrested on drug trafficking charges. They are accused of distributing large amounts of methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl and marijuana. They eventually pleaded guilty and were given sentences between five and 15 years.
On November 23, 2020, 15 members and associates of the crime family were indicted on federal racketeering charges; among the defendants were reputed underboss Steven Mazzone and reputed capo Domenic Grande. The primary charges were illegal gambling, loansharking, drug trafficking, and extorting other criminals, including illegal sports betting operators and loan sharks. Interest rates charged on outstanding gambling debts were as high as 264%. After previously pleading guilty, underboss Steven Mazzone was sentenced to five years in prison on December 15, 2022.
In 2024, Merlino was reportedly "shelved" by the Philadelphia family, essentially suspending his membership and making his persona non grata after embarking on a career as a podcast host and sports betting tipster, and replaced as head of the crime family by George Borgesi.
